The Tribune

FORMER basketball player-turned golfer Taneka Sandiford is on the Ladies Professional Golf Association tour, not as a player, but a caddie and she is enjoying the exposure and travel that she’s experiencing.

Sandiford, who has put her dreams of playing on the LPGA on hold, will continue what she hopes will be a long time, full-time commitment with American pro golfer Amy Olson when the two reconnect next week at the sixth edition of the Pure Silk-Bahamas LPGA Classic.

The classic is set for January 22-28 at the Ocean Club Golf Course at the Atlantis resort on Paradise Island where Georgette Rolle will be returning as the Bahamian exempted player in the field of the $1.4 million event.

“When I was coaching, she asked me if I wanted to caddie for her and after the season finished, I caddied for her six times during the summer,” said Sandiford, who caddied for Olson in tournaments in New Jersey, Michigan, Ohio, Washington DC and New York.

“Now that I’m home, she asked me if I would caddie for her again at the Pure Silk and also for her at the Australian Open in February. It was a pleasure for me to accept this challenge as the first Bahamian female caddie on the LPGA.”

Olson, a resident of North Dakota, graduated from North Dakota State University and is on her third year of the LPGA Tour, having qualified on her first attempt. She has a career earning of $420,428.

“It’s been awesome just being around the professional players,” said Olson, who would have preferred to be in a different capacity as a player. “They are so down to earth and they make it just a good experience to be around them.

“I’ve already had the chance to travel to a number of states in the USA and I will be getting ready to go to Australia and maybe places like Hawaii. This is the closest that I will get to playing in the LPGA, so I’m taking advantage of it.”

While she had hoped her journey through the LPGA would have been as a player, Sandiford said she’s just as elated to be doing it as the first Bahamian female caddie on the tour.

“Hopefully this will open doors, not just for me, but for other Bahamians, especially golfers to get on the tour,” she pointed out. “I’m just excited that I will get the chance to do it here at home as well.”

As the first Bahamian female caddie on the tour, Sandiford said she want to put all of the experience that she has gained as a player when she started at the age of 10 to playing at the collegiate level to good use.

“I want the other Bahamians to look up to me because if I work hard and I excel, I know others will be able to follow me,” she stated. “So it’s a humbly experience to be the first Bahamian female, but I hope and pray that it doesn’t start and end with me.

“I hope that it has a tripling effect where there will be other players who will get the opportunity to caddie just as Georgette Rolle is getting the opportunity to play as a player.”

When she got started, Sandiford played in the Bahamas Golf Federation’s junior programme. She went on to make the national team in just six months in the sport and

But even when she was involved in the sport, Sandiford was participating in her first love as a basketball player at St John’s College where she helped the Giants to win four championship titles.

After graduating from St John’s College in 2011, Sandiford went on to play basketball in Florida for one year where she was the MVP before she transferred to the Redwoods Community College where she helped her team finish as he NJCAA National Golf Championship runners-up in 2013 and third in the regional tournament in 2014.

She then secured an athletic scholarship to complete her education at Chicago State University in 2016 where she placed 13th at the Loyola Fall Invitational and the CSU Cougar Classic.

That led to her returning to Redwoods Community College where she served as an assistant coach last year where she was introduced to her role as a caddie.

The rest, as they say, was history.

At just 23-years-old, Sandiford said she’s quite contended with what she has accomplished so far, but she admits that she know it’s just the tip of the iceberg.

As a dual graduate with her associate degree in business administration and elementary school education from Redwoods Community College and Bachelor degrees in business management and Spanish, Sandiford said she doesn’t regret passing up basketball.

“I would have loved to continue playing basketball and eventually going on to play in the WNBA. I felt I had the potential to do that,” said Sandiford, a former junior national team basketball player.

“But I’m glad that I decided to stick with golf because now I have the opportunity to caddie in the LPGA. I don’t know if I would have made it to the WNBA, but I can say I made it to the LPGA as a caddie.”

Sandiford said there is so much negativity towards women in sports, but she hope that she and Rolle can help to change that stigma.

“I got my opportunity through the United States as a caddie and now I am going to get to showcase what I can do here at home,” she pointed out.

“Georgette is going to get to do the same thing again as a player. She played well. She represented the Bahamas very well, although she didn’t make the cut. She got a lot of negativity, but people don’t know that it’s difficult not having a chance to play that much golf here. I think she played remarkable and I know this year she will play even better.”

While Rolle will be back for her third appearance in the tournament as the first Bahamian to play in an LPGA event, Sandiford attempted to qualify for the exemption twice, but she fell short both times.

But Sandiford said the work ethic that was instilled in her from her father, tennis coach Juan, has inspired her to go out and give it her best shot in everything she put her mind to achieve.

“I’m glad that I am able to achieve this much in such a young age, but this is just the beginning,” she noted. “I still have a lot more to accomplish.”

When she’s done, Sandiford said she would like to return home and continue to work with her mother, Chris, at her 2-On-2 Preschool and eventually start her own elementary school, while teaching the game of golf.

But for now, she’s looking forward to traveling as many places as she can, including going ‘Down Under’ to Australia next month for the Australian Open with Olson.

Olson will be in town on Monday and she and Sandiford will begin preparing for the tournament during their first practice on Tuesday. The tournament will begin on Thursday, just after the Pro-Am is played on Wednesday.